BroadbandOhio will invest $50 million in a multi-county broadband expansion project, the Ohio governor’s office announced Thursday. A division of the Ohio Department of Development, BroadbandOhio will use grants from the federal Capital Project Fund for an initiative aimed at improving internet coverage at approximately 38,000 addresses in southwest Ohio. The project will total $110 million, with partner altafiber providing the remaining $60 million. BroadbandOhio-funded projects in Brown and Clermont counties must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026. Altafiber’s project will be in Adams County and must be completed within one year of the BroadbandOhio projects.

New Hampshire will create a Data Privacy Unit that will enforce RSA 507-H, the New Hampshire Data Privacy Act, the state attorney general’s office announced Thursday. Effective in the new year, the act codifies consumer rights when businesses buy and sell their data (see 2403070064). “Ensuring accountability, transparency, and consumer choice regarding how companies handle and monetize the personal data of their customers is a priority of my office,” New Hampshire AG John Formella (R) said. Establishing a list of FAQs covering consumer rights and business' responsibilities is the Data Privacy Unit's first task. The AG's Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau will house the new unit.

Charter Communications agreed to charge $15 monthly for a low-income broadband plan in New York state under a settlement the Public Service Commission approved Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Thursday. The New York PSC in its 2016 order approving the company’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable required Charter to sell a $14.99 monthly plan with at least 30 Mbps download speeds (see 1601270028). The New York Department of Public Service alleged that Charter violated the order when it increased the price to $24.99 for 50 Mbps without PSC approval. Under the settlement, Charter will provide 50 Mbps speeds for $15 monthly for four years to New Yorkers who participate in the National Free School Lunch Program or receive supplemental security income benefits. For years two through four, Charter may raise the price only to account for inflation. The settlement is important because the federal affordable connectivity program has expired and litigation has delayed New York state’s Affordable Broadband Act (see 2408130021), PSC Chair Rory Christian said in Hochul’s news release. “The only low-income broadband requirements that currently exist in New York are the low-income program conditions in the PSC’s orders approving certain mergers. By approving this settlement, the PSC will make affordable broadband available to eligible New Yorkers in Charter's service territory while the litigation is resolved and/or federal funding for ACP is reinstated or federal broadband policy is clarified.” Hochul applauded the news. “This settlement directly benefits thousands of low-income New York families.” A Charter spokesperson said the company's "prices and speeds are competitive and affordable" in urban, suburban and rural areas, with no modem fees, annual contracts or data caps.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities agreed 4-0 Wednesday to tweak rules of practice and procedure for the agency’s cable TV office. The board approved an order (docket CX23100741) to readopt rules of practice and procedure at the cable TV office with "certain amendments to reflect technical changes for clarity of the rules," and to conform the rules with the board's general rules of practice and federal law, said Cable and Telecommunications Director Lawanda Gilbert at a webcast meeting. The old rules would have expired this year. Wednesday’s action renews them for seven years.

NTIA gave New York approval to collect more than $664 million in broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) funds Tuesday. The federal agency approved volume 2 of the state’s initial proposal. NTIA has approved BEAD initial plans for 35 eligible entities. Twenty-one states and territories have volume 2 initial proposals pending approval and the NTIA expects to review most by September (see 2408010053).

North Carolina published a notice and guidelines for $86 million of available funds for high-speed internet infrastructure, the state's Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity announced Monday. The funding comes from the Stop-Gap Solutions program, which will provide federal American Rescue Plan Act funds as grants for counties to use as matching funds for new Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program projects. In addition, ISPs can fund broadband line-extension projects with the money. The program will “help NCDIT leverage the remaining $283 million CAB program funds,” Nate Denny, NCDIT deputy secretary for broadband and digital equity, said. NCDIT will hold a webinar Aug. 26 at 10 a.m. for counties interested in applying for Stop-Gap Solutions program funds to assist with the CAB program county match requirement.

Georgia urged a federal district court to reject an effort aimed at overturning a 2024 state law that revises commissioner terms at the Georgia Public Service Commission. In a July 17 complaint at the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia, the plaintiff, Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund, said the law (HB-1312) violates the constitutions of Georgia and the U.S. The plaintiff asked the court to enjoin the state from enforcing the law in future elections. Georgia opposed preliminary injunction and urged the court to dismiss the complaint in filings Monday. The state said that HB-1312 was necessary to restore a system of staggered terms after a previous lawsuit from the same plaintiff -- claiming that Georgia PSC election methods violate the Voting Rights Act (see 2407190036) -- led to the delay of 2022 and 2024 PSC elections. “This lawsuit seeks to take Georgia’s win in … [the] first case and force a result where Georgia would still lose by being required to surrender its strong state interest in staggered terms for PSC,” the state wrote. “Those terms are specifically designed to avoid having a majority of the members up for election in the same year.” Georgia responded that the plaintiff lacks standing and fails to make a claim. The state said: The district court shouldn’t “further interfere with the state’s exercise of its constitutional authority” to determine how to run commissioner elections.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) urged school districts to restrict smartphones in classrooms this academic year. “Excessive smartphone use among youth is linked to increased anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues,” Newsom said Tuesday in a letter to California schools. “The evidence is clear: reducing phone use in class leads to improved concentration, better academic outcomes, and enhanced social interactions.” Newsom highlighted a 2019 law he signed that authorizes districts to regulate smartphone use during school hours. Also, the governor is working with the state legislature to “further limit student smartphone use on campus,” he said. Multiple states are examining ways of directing their public schools to limit students' mobile phone use (see 2407190012).

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked New York to respond by Sept. 16 to ISP groups' application that would stay the state’s broadband affordability law, a text entry in docket 24A138 said Monday. Last week, New York agreed not to enforce the law while the high court considers a petition from ISP groups for a writ of certiorari (see 2408080022). The ISP groups were expected to file that petition Monday, but it didn’t appear on the court’s website before our deadline. If the court grants cert, additionally granting the stay application would stop New York from enforcing the law while justices weigh the case.

Illinois will allow counties to lease or license fiber and other broadband infrastructure for delivery of high-speed internet. Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed SB-3173 on Friday. Counties may do so under the new law only “on a nondiscriminatory, nonexclusive, and competitively neutral basis” and must comply with all other state and federal laws and regulations, says SB-3173. No state legislators voted against the bill earlier this year (see 2404120059).